Trailing No. 18 Johns Hopkins, 5-2, at halftime of a crucial
American Lacrosse conference game, things did not look good for the
No. 13 Nittany Lions. They got smoked on draw controls and at one
point, the Blue Jays had a 4-0 lead.

So at the break, head coach Missy Doherty told her players they
needed to play harder. They’d done it in their last game, an
11-10 double-overtime win over Ohio State. They’d done it in
the game before that, when they won a key draw to hold off a
resurgent Lehigh team, 12-11.

On a grander scale, they’d done it when they began their
2011 season 1-4 and then won seven out of the next nine games.
Doherty knew they could do it again versus Johns Hopkins.

“I told them to make sure they’re stopping you, and
you’re not just stopping,” said Doherty, a first-year
coach for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State responded to the call and rallied to a 10-7 victory
over the Blue Jays, led by senior Jackie Eastman (3g, 1a) and a
standout performance from goalie Dana Cahill. Cahill made 11 saves
overall, including seven in the second half, and a few showstoppers
in the final minutes to hold off a determined Hopkins squad
battling for a win at Homewood on Senior Day and a potential No. 2
seed in the ALC tournament. The junior was swarmed by her teammates
as time ran out, and the Nittany Lions rose to 9-6 overall and 3-2
in the ALC. The Blue Jays fall to 9-6 overall and 1-3 in conference
play.

“It’s definitely a huge emotional win,” Cahill
said. “We definitely have always had the physical talent, and
now I think we have the mental aspect as well.”

Defensively, Doherty shifted attention to Hopkins' leading scorer,
junior attacker Candace Rossi (3g, 1a). The result was two long
droughts for the Blue Jays, including a 20:29 period that stretched
between the first and second halves, and the final 15:25 of the
game. Meanwhile, the offense relied on careful shooting (eight
goals on 12 shots in the second half), nice feeding from behind the
goal by Eastman and freshman Mackenzie Cyr (1g, 3a) and 3-for-3
free position conversions. The Nittany Lions got an assist from a
flustered Hopkins team that committed 30 fouls overall, 22 in the
second period. Blue Jays goalie Cosette LaRash finished with seven
saves.

“Being down, we’ve been in that situation before, so
we don’t stress,” Cyr said.

Penn State steadily gained ground on Hopkins, tying the game at
5-5 at 21:37. The Blue Jays responded with two straight goals, but
the Nittany Lions roared back, tying the game 7-7 at 13:12 on a
rare goal from junior midfielder Theresa Zichelli on a free
position bounce shot. They took the lead for good at 9:33 on
another free position bounce shot from Cyr.

The Nittany Lions will travel to No. 15 Princeton next Saturday
before the ALC tournament begins May 5 at Vanderbilt, where they
will be the No. 3 seed. After years of dominance by Northwestern,
this year’s ALC play has been tumultuous, and the conference
crown seems up for grabs. Penn State would like to try to grab
it.

“The seniors want to go out on a good note,” said
Eastman, whose class has never received an NCAA tournament bid.
“We think we’re a top-10 team, and we just needed to
play like it, and that’s what we did today.”